Instrument sounds
Devoted to the production and radiation of sound in instrumental playing, this is a demanding book, but one that will fascinate those who have the necessary knowledge of physics to immerse themselves in it.
The revised and expanded second edition of this book, designed for teaching at master's and doctoral level - it includes demonstrations and calculation steps for this purpose - is also aimed at instrument builders who want to deepen their knowledge of their art, or at music-loving physicists. For students in particular, exercises can be found on the Editions Belin website. For the musician or music lover who is not a pure scientist, this may be a rather arduous read, as it is by no means a popular work. If you're not into equations, don't bother!
The acoustics of musical instruments is a particularly subtle field, where the laws of fluid mechanics and those of solid mechanics interact. Numerous parameters interfere with the production of sound, modifying its properties - even, for example, the conditions under which the string is attached to the bridge, or the temperature of the rosin. Concrete applications of our ever-growing knowledge of these mechanisms can be found in instrument making, sound recording and the arrangement of instruments on stage. There is still a great deal of research to be carried out in this field, particularly in the correlation between instrumental playing and auditory perception.
The first is devoted to basic principles (vibrations of solid structures, acoustic waves, excitation mechanisms, free and forced oscillations, etc.), the second to modes of vibration and sound waves, damping mechanisms (extinction of sound due to dissipation of energy in the air and in instruments) and the acoustics of musical instruments themselves. The third section deals with one of the most interesting characteristics of most musical instruments: non-linear oscillations, which are essential to the production of sound in strings and winds. Finally, the last section looks at the radiation of sound and the best ways of promoting it without damaging the characteristics and timbre of the instrument.
Antoine Chaigne, Jean Kergomard, Acoustique des instruments de musique, 2nd revised and expanded edition, 720 p., € 49.50, Editions Belin, Paris 2013, ISBN 978-2-7011-8280-3
